ESPN fires Curt Schilling over transgender comments

BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN announced that it has fired network analyst and former Boston Red Sox star pitcher Curt Schilling following his comments on Facebook about transgender people.

The network released a statement Wednesday saying, “ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”

On Monday, Schilling, 49, reposted an image of an overweight man wearing a long blond wig and revealing women’s clothing. It included the phrase: “Let him in! To the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow minded, judgmental, unloving, racist bigot who needs to die!!!”

Schilling added his own comments, saying, “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves” and “Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

Schilling was apparently referring to laws in several states that restrict bathroom access to transgender people.

Earlier Wednesday, Schilling defended the post on his blog, saying he was expressing his opinion and those criticizing him are frauds.

This isn’t the first time that Schilling has been in hot water with the network for comments he made online.

The former “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst was pulled by ESPN from a major league game and the network’s coverage of the Little League World Series last fall after he retweeted a post that compared Muslims and Nazi-era Germans.

ESPN said the tweet was “unacceptable,” but kept him on board.

At the time, Schilling said he’d made a “bad decision.”